Daddy
by everybreatheverymove
Summary: AU: Set sometime mid-season 7. It comes as a surprise when April Kepner is revealed to be pregnant, but the real question on everyone's mind is who the baby's father could be.


**Yes, I'm writing another oneshot. This is an idea I've had for a long time now and if you're on Tumblr then you know I've been contemplating writing this for weeks. So, I'm finally doing it, and trying to get it perfectly, just the way I would have wanted to see it on the show had it happened. I know I write a lot of AU stories but that's only because their actual canon world is shit sometimes and it's nice to imagine our babies under different circumstances as well. I hope the characters are still themselves though, and it would great if you could review and tell me what you think of this when you've finished reading. (Criticism is definitely appreciated, too, just not if you're one of those idiots who leaves unnecessary remarks about my work. If you don't like my writing style, then you should know in advance not to read this.) So, enjoy! :)**

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><p>Set sometime mid-season 7. It comes as a surprise when April Kepner is revealed to be pregnant, but the real question on everyone's mind is who the baby's father could be.<p>

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><p><em><strong>JANUARY 2011<strong>_

She doesn't mean for it happen.

It's an accident, really, unintentional and stupid. She was supposed to control it, to watch her step, to make sure she didn't slip up.

She had been doing alright up until now.

She avoids coffee in the mornings, makes sure to tie her slightly brown-slightly red hair up in a ponytail to keep it off her face. She eats fruit, dry crackers, and she drinks water by the gallon. She slips into a discreetly bigger size of scrubs. She avoids alcohol and claims ti to be for religious reasons; lent in January?

April Kepner is careful, she is a saint. She prays, behind closed doors but within hearing distance. She doesn't curse, only rarely and in times of desperate need. She doesn't have sex, only that one time she did and He ruined her life.

She doesn't mean for it to happen.

Maybe it's because Meredith hands her a smoking hot brew of Seattle's best coffee, because she'd just finished a 48-hour shift, to avoid suspicion, keep up appearances. She wouldn't be April Kepner if she didn't pull 48-hour shifts, of course. Nobody can know. Nothing can change.

"You okay, April?"

The auburn haired resident nods, regrets pulling the ponytail from her hair, as she spews over the trash can. Damn it.

Cristina Yang perks a brow at the younger surgeon from across the room. She tosses the glossy magazine she was holding back down on the bench, squints over at the pair, "What's wrong with you?"

Meredith rolls her eyes, "She's just had a long shift, I'm sure she's just tired." She pats April's back once as she stands back up and offers her a small reassuring smile, "Right?"

"Yeah." April rasps, shoulders high and crossing her arms over her chest uncomfortably, "Of course."

Maybe she shouldn't have added that last part.

Cristina gets up from her perch then, cracks her knuckles as she approaches the petite redhead, eyeing her carefully with a look up and down.

Before April can mutter a word, there's a hand smacked against her forehead and a intrusive wannabe cardio goddess in her face.

"Spill."

"What?" She frowns when the Asian woman moves away, folds her own arms over her chest with a proud smirk, "Spill what?"

Cristina lifts a brow, throws her a knowing look, "Who did you screw, Kepner?"

There it is. The beginning of her end.

Fuck (this is a time of desperate need).

"Cristina!"

"Look at her! She totally did it." Yang points out.

"I didn't. I-" April fidgets, tugs on the sleeves of her lab coat and chews her bottom lip, "I didn't."

Was that convincing enough? Probably not.

"Come on, Kepner."

"April," Meredith starts, seeing the woman in slight distress, "Are you pregnant?"

The silence that follows is an obvious answer, and it doesn't take much more than a second for Cristina to speak again.

"Okay." She picks up April's coffee from the bench and disposes of it in the trash. "You need to tell us."

April sighs, closes her eyes and looks down, voice low, "I don't want to."

"April, I need to ask." Meredith nears her, hushed tone and eyes like daggers. "Was it consensual?"

The redhead swallows a breath, looks at the space between the two women, "Yes." She shrugs, "It was my idea, okay?"

"He didn't force you?"

"No!"

"Okay. Good."

Cristina watches her carefully, notices the way she licks her lips over and over again and avoids her gaze, "How far along are you?"

"Two months."

The brunette creases her brows, crinkles her nose, "You didn't- It's not Alex, is it?"

"I doubt Evil Spawn is capable of knocking anybody up."

"Cristina!"

"Fine, if Alex _is_ the baby daddy then we'll help her tell him. I want to be there when that conversation goes down."

"Shut up." Grey rolls her eyes, turns to face a blank space.

No April.

"Good job, now we've got a pregnant Kepner on the loose."

* * *

><p>"Did you hear?"<p>

He's been enjoying his lunch for the past ten minutes, which means that he hasn't heard a single peep out of anyone for longer than that.

Lexie slips down into the seat across from him, leans over and steals a couple French fries off his plate.

"Heard what?"

"April might be pregnant." She tells him, eyes wide and a knowing look on her face.

Alex frowns, tossing his napkin at her when he notices her expression, "It's not mine!"

"It could be! You two did almost do it a few months ago." Lexie points out, shrugging with raised brows.

"Almost being the word." He groans, "I learnt from that mistake, believe me."

"You mean when Jackson gave you a black eye?" She smirks, steals another fry to accompany the healthy salad on her own tray.

He frowns again, pouts almost, and picks up his hamburger, "Shut up."

The younger Grey rolls her eyes and opens the lid of her meal.

"Who told you that anyway?"

"I overheard Cristina talking in the locker room." She dishes, attention drawn to the side when she sees the one man who would the truth approaching their tale. "Jackson!"

"Hey."

He slides down beside them at the table, joining her in the theft of Alex's fries. He smirks, leans an elbow against the table's edge.

"Did you hear?"

"Are you gonna ask everyone that?"

"Shut up, Alex." She brushes him off, faces the pretty boy beside her, "Did you?"

Jackson's forehead creases, clearly in confusion over Lexie's news, "Hear what?"

"Somebody knocked up your precious virgin."

"Alex!"

The darker skinned man's fist tightens, though nobody seems to notice, and his eyes shift from his friend's to his bowl of spaghetti, thought nobody pays it any attention, "Oh."

"Oh? Dude, you went full crazy on my ass when I _almost_ nailed her. Some guy knocks her up and your response is _'Oh'_?" Karev chuckles darkly, shaking his head with obvious disapproval.

"It's- It's none of my business. It's none of your business."

"Aren't you curious though?" Lexie pries with a clear thousand questions rushing through her brain.

He shrugs, "No. She probably just decided that it was stupid to hold onto something like that. Maybe it was a paramedic? She's always friendly with them."

"Didn't she have a date with one of them?"

"Yeah, but that was just one time."

"Could still be him though?"

"Nah, I don't think so." Lexie disagrees, deep in thought, "And I think the others are all married."

"Or gay."

"Maybe she was someone's beard."

"I doubt it. He's probably one of the married guys. That would explain why she doesn't wanna say anything."

"Or maybe she just doesn't think that it's anyone's business but her own?" Jackson pitches.

There's a melodious "Nah" from the other two then, shaking their heads disapprovingly.

"Okay."

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><p>"We need to talk."<p>

The man grins, places down his mobile phone on the bar, "Yeah?"

The redhead takes a deep breath, "Look, people are saying things... about me."

She can do this.

"The kind of thing I never-"

"Can you just let me talk, please?"

The tall guy shrugs, leans his back against the bar, looks down at her with a smile, "Go ahead."

"Something happened and people are probably going to think it's you. I don't know why. Maybe it's because we went out once, and we talk, and for some reason every single person in that freaking hospital seems to know everyone else's business. I- I don't know." She bites her lip, slides her hands in her jeans' pockets.

Another deep breath.

"But to be honest, what's happening is none of your business, and I don't want people to bother you about it. Maybe nobody will mention anything, I don't know." She flaps her arms down against her sides, "This is about me, and I don't want to drag you into it so if anybody asks just tell them the truth."

"Which would be?"

"That we never slept together. We just had dinner once."

"And why would I need to tell anybody that?"

She gulps, steps closer to the paramedic and diverts her gaze to the tiled floor, "Because I'm pregnant and nobody knows who the father is. Because I don't want people assuming that I just slept with someone one time and that it didn't mean anything. Because it's not their business, or yours, and we- We have nothing."

"Who-" He, Matthew, aged twenty-nine and newly divorced, begins, "Who is the father?"

"That's none of your business."

"April, come on. I'm not gonna tell anyone." He reasons, "Besides, I have a girlfriend now so I doubt people are gonna think it's me. Who is it?"

She just smiles, lip bitten and cheeks flushed, "You don't know him."

* * *

><p>There isn't much she enjoys anymore.<p>

Food she once loved is either repugnant now or craved like crazy. Wine is too appealing and too tempting but she lacks the courage to risk it.

She doesn't want to sit in bed and read as she did before; she'd rather cry, maybe sob, maybe scream. She doesn't want to talk; she'd rather write her feelings down in her little red book and stain the pages with her wet tears. She doesn't want to pray anymore; she's lost too much, gained too much pain, sinned a little too plenty.

So, she sits at the counter in the kitchen, glass of still water in her hand and her eyes drift shut, tight and held.

Can she even do this? Can she have a child under these circumstances?

Granted, things might be easier if she actually tells the father, if she finally comes clean, through words and not clothes this time.

Maybe it was a mistake back then, back when she was vulnerable and he was wounded and the idea of shedding layers and sharing skin seemed so great. Maybe it was a cruel joke He had played on her, as payback, revenge for breaking a promise. Maybe it was her own greed, her own lust and need for satisfaction that caught up with her.

Maybe it was him.

Maybe he was too perfect, too beautifully flawed for her to say no, to suggest it.

Maybe it was her fault, maybe it was his.

Maybe she should have controlled herself, maybe he could have done the same.

He's as much to blame for this as she is.

She gets brought out of her thoughts when she hears the clinking of keys in the bowl beside the front door. Maybe- Probably not.

It only takes a few moments for him to appear in the kitchen, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes downcast.

Two months had gone by since they'd last been alone in the house, since everyone had been out for the night and they were left abandoned, lonely, drawn.

She sits there, glass half full and half empty in her hand, eyes focusing in on his green ones that damaged her all those weeks ago.

Fuck (this is a time of desperate need.)

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><p><strong><em>NOVEMBER 2010<em>**

"Why did you do that?!"

She waves her left arm out to smack his chest as they enter the house, her right arm hooked around his body, his through around her shoulder.

"Come on, April. He deserved it."

She throws her keys into her bag when the door closes behind them, when he's inside and he's taking his jacket off. There's a glowing and blotchy bruising pattern on his fist, but his face is less damaged than the other guy's.

They came home early out of partial humiliation. It doesn't serve well to be the new people in a crowd.

Lexie had bandaged up his hand, April had cowered away in the corner with a comforting Callie for a few moments until he'd showed up, until Alex was far away downstairs and she didn't have to face him, face embarrassment.

"I'll take you home." Her best friend had said, extending a hand out, waiting for the petite half brunette-half redhead to accept his offer.

She did, and she drove, and she's the one who is now standing facing him, through long lashes with an innocent look across her whole face.

"I deserved it, too."

"No." He shakes his head, frowns and rests his perfect hand on her shoulder. He blinks, repeatedly, rapidly, and his nostrils flare slightly, "No. You didn't deserve what he did."

"It's not like he attacked me. I just- I encouraged him to tou-"

"April, stop." He pauses, runs his hand down her arm to find her hand comfortingly, "Look, he's a douche. Alright? Maybe I went a little bit too hard on him, but he did on you. You weren't ready, you weren't-"

She sighs, licks her lips, slouches her shoulders, "I wasn't what? His type?"

"You weren't thinking straight. Okay? Guys like Karev, they're only after one thing. And when they've got it, they're done with you. Believe me."

"Are you one of those guys?" She asks, flutters her lashes down to peek at the floor then back up at his face. His eyes are darker than usual, his hand warm against her cotton-covered skin.

"I used to be." He closes his eyes then, removes his hand from her shoulder to rub it down his face. "Which is why I know that you are not meant for someone like that. You're forever material."

Her breath hitches at that, a little surprised that those words had just slipped past her friend's mouth.

"You really believe that?" She smiles softly, watches as he does the same, letting her gaze wander to his lips for the longest second.

"Yeah." He speaks quietly, brows raising at her disbelief. "You deserve more than guys like Karev." He tells her honestly.

"And guys like the old you?" She adds, making him nod in agreement, "How about the new you?"

"What do you mean?"

She stills, stays where she is, doesn't dare to take a tentative step closer toward him. She's already been humiliated and shamed once today, that should be enough. This conversation could end badly.

"Does the newer you deserve me?" She whispers it quietly, almost afraid he'll hear, almost hoping he doesn't.

"I-" He pauses, swallows a breath as she bites the inside of her bottom lip, stares up at him like candy attracts a child. "I can't answer that, April."

"Can I?"

He's her protector, has been since the merger, since they lost their friends. He's her best friend, has been since she became his. He's her person. Surely, he can be her first, too.

"April."

He husks, watches as she finally moves that foot closer, drops her hands to his chest gently and glances up at him, letting her eyes dance along his features.

"Please?"

"You're not thinking straight."

"I am. I- Earlier, that was a mistake. But you, what you just said... I know now. I want you, Jackson." She licks her lips again, corners turning and mouth drying, "Please?"

He doesn't respond. His hands just find her waist and his lips meet her own, and the rest is history.

* * *

><p><em><strong>JANUARY 2011<strong>_

"Were you ever planning on telling me, or what?"

She sighs, closes her eyes and lets her head drop into her hands, elbows leaning against the table, "Yes."

"When?" Jackson's green eyes glisten, and he approaches her place slowly.

"When the time was right."

"What time would that be, April?!" He hisses, slams the palms of his hands against the countertop. "I had to learn from Lexie that I'm apparently gonna be a father!" He glances up at the ceiling, clears his throat in a long groan, "It is mine, right?"

She takes a deep breath, finally lets go of her glass, dares to glance up at him with wide eyes, "Yes." She blinks back tears, folds her arms over her chest uncomfortably, "There's only been you, Jackson."

He nods then, after a second, and his hands slide across the table and into his pockets. "Okay?"

"You don't have to do anything, you know. I'm not gonna force you into this."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm offering you an out. I- I can do this alone."

"No." He frowns, steps around the counter and reaches for her hand, "No. I'm not walking out on you, alright? I'm not gonna be that guy, April."

"Then what guy are you gonna be?"

"Hopefully... one that deserves you."


End file.
